Kurt Busch leads Stewart-Haas Racing sweep in Talladega qualifying

TALLADEGA, Ala. — Kurt Busch led a Stewart-Haas Racing sweep to put all four of the company cars up front at Talladega Superspeedway for a critical playoff race.

Kurt Busch will start on the pole with teammate Clint Bowyer second. Take a look through the field for Sunday’s Cup race.

Timothy Peters bumped leader Noah Gragson out of his way on the final lap at Talladega Superspeedway, then blocked traffic for the final mile to win the Truck Series race Saturday.

The dynamic duo, who won seven Cup titles together, will be on separate teams in 2019. Our ESPN experts handicap whether the crew chief or the driver will hoist the trophy before the other.

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Busch turned a lap at 195.804 mph to qualify in the top spot for Sunday’s race. He edged teammate Clint Bowyer, who qualified second, ahead of Kevin Harvick and Aric Almirola as the Ford horsepower built by Doug Yates‘ engine shop proved superior in qualifying.

“Four Stewart-Haas Racing Fords up front, I’m just happy I had the fastest one,” said Busch, who won his first career pole at Daytona or Talladega, the two biggest and fastest tracks in NASCAR.

All four SHR drivers are still part of the 12-driver championship field, which will be trimmed by four following next weekend’s race at Kansas. Almirola and Bowyer are tied for ninth on the playoff grid, barely holding on to transfer positions.

“I’ve got to beat and differentiate and separate myself from my teammate Aric. We’re both 10 points out,” Bowyer said. “I’ve got to capitalize on that somehow and close that gap here.”

“All four guys in the top 12 is a strong showing for us,” Byron said. “Qualifying doesn’t reflect totally on how things will shake out Sunday and how you are going to race. But it should be fine. With the four of us together at the start, we have an opportunity to stay in front of some of the possible situations.”

FAST CARS: Talladega had an “enhanced weekend” in which Cup cars were on track two days instead of three, with just one practice session prior to Sunday’s race. It was a fast session, too, as Harvick led 23 other drivers to speeds of more than 200 mph. Harvick topped the practice board at 204.227 mph.

BUDGET RACING: Richard Petty Motorsports had just one superspeedway car to bring to Talladega Superspeedway, so Bubba Wallace has been on his best behavior all weekend. Wallace had to complete both a practice session and Saturday qualifying without harming his Chevrolet because RPM did not bring a backup car.

Wallace finished second in the Daytona 500, 16th at Talladega in the spring and 14th at Daytona in July. The Daytona 500 car was auctioned off in May for a little over $80,000.

RPM’s car count is down because of a struggle to land sponsorship for Wallace, the only black driver racing full-time at NASCAR’s national level, and bringing just one car to Talladega is, as Wallace said, “ballin’ on a budget.”

“Money is the root of all evil and success for us,” Wallace said.

FINAL BROADCAST: Mike Wells, a 21-time Emmy Award winner, will direct his final NASCAR race Sunday after 38 years.

Wells’ career began in 1981 at Rockingham Speedway, and he became a fixture in both NASCAR and the sports broadcasting community, working for ESPN, Turner Sports and others in addition to NBC. Wells directed Richard Petty’s final race, Dale Earnhardt Sr.’s final win, Jeff Gordon‘s four Cup Series championships and Jimmie Johnson’s record-tying seventh Cup Series championship.

Following Sunday’s race, Wells will shift into IndyCar mode and prepare for NBC’s first coverage of the Indianapolis 500 next season. The network is taking over the IndyCar package next season, and Wells is in charge of “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.”

“While it’s bittersweet for this to be Mike’s final NASCAR race for us, we can’t think of a better person to direct NBC’s inaugural Indy 500 in 2019,” NBC executive producer and president Sam Flood said.